


I Wanna Be Known By You

by denimjackets



Category: Humans (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hacking, Humor, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-18
Updated: 2016-04-12
Packaged: 2018-04-15 09:55:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4602366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/denimjackets/pseuds/denimjackets
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leo spends his days in his apartment – better not to meet a lot of people when they could potentially sabotage your plan to take down Hobb Inc. piece by piece. However, one day, he is intrigued by a rather lengthy code posted by user hu-bot97 , asking for help on discovering what on earth their university professor wanted them to discover. Little did he know Hu-bot97 would be rather intriguing herself.</p><p>Mattie receives her help, alright.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Headcrackers and Pepper Spray

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, major thanks to all the circumstances that led to me discovering this amazing show, and the amazing fandom it has.  
> A thanks to my current obsession with Twenty One Pilots, and their song Goner, which inspired this work for the most part.
> 
> A special shoutout to the awesomest ReflectiveMuse (both on tumblr and here) for being my beta, and giving me all the constructive criticism that it took to make this a real fan fiction and not just a drabble that made no sense whatsoever. You have brought out the best out of my idea, and for that I am forever grateful.
> 
> It will take years of practice to get on any kind of level writers deem acceptable, but I am willing to sacrifice them. Until then, you get this. I hope you like it, and if you do, please let me know.
> 
> Disclaimer: This was an AU from the start, but only halfway through did I realize I was writing in American English, and an American setting. I left it that way. Blame my foreigner ass.

On Tuesday, after going through almost all of Hobb’s coded emails with no luck, Leo decided it was time for rest. Any other human being would consider a break from the screen and maybe pick up a book, or go for a walk. Leo, however, was not any other human being. To take a break from hacking, Leo decided to go coding. After a few minutes, he realized that he didn’t have any idea as to what to code for that wasn’t related to the Hobb project, so he went on Headcracker to maybe get inspired.

After half an hour of browsing through endless high-school level programming questions that were already answered, a title caught his eye as different. ‘ _So my college professor gave me a personal assignment and the source code is all kinds of batshit crazy. Any help?’_  He clicked on the file uploaded by the user, _hu-bot97,_ and his screen lit up green with code that went on forever. 

If it hadn’t been Leo viewing it, he’d definitely never have seen anything like it before, but since it was Leo Elster, _Programmer Extraordinaire,_ it was more likely he’d create something like it himself. Genuinely curious then, he started reading through it. It was encrypted in a familiar fashion. This wasn’t something you learn in college, and sure as hell not something you should see if you _were_ in college. This was something only hacker experts deal with, and even that is a rare occasion. 

For a second, he even considered it to be a trap post, put online by some secret CIA agent or something, but as he went through, he brushed it off. They wouldn’t have access to stuff this, well, _sophisticated._ That was the word he was looking for.

As time went by and day turned to night, he felt too invested in cracking it to leave the thing just sitting there. Everything he’d went through implied connections to _Hobb Inc._ , so he felt like he should at least thank the person. _In person._

He knew that there were plenty other people out there just looking for someone conspiring about suspicious programs.

He typed up a private response to _hu-bot97:_ “ _I can help you. Meet me?”_

And so he got up to make himself yet another pot of coffee as he waited for a response.

 

* * *

 

Mattie was in her dorm, roommate-less for the year, because she’d been too lazy to put up flyers asking for one. Besides, she preferred being alone. Less people, less worries. She was watching a movie when a window popped up on her laptop screen. She expected it to be a message from Harun, ( _God, would the guy ever give her a break?)_ and was about to close it, but noticed it was from _Headcracker_.

God knows how much the code assigned to her bothered her, so she was eager to open it up. She smiled, only to be disappointed. _User885_ apparently wanted to meet. She’d been on the Internet long enough, and her family went through some rough patches because of it. She knew what _that_ meant, and never once agreed to it. No matter how much trust she put into people with genuine knowledge of hacking, she wouldn’t just meet a stranger like that. But her mind kept running through scenarios of her failing her favorite class, and how this could maybe change that.  


Maybe wasn’t always enough, but it was better than not having a chance at all. She thought of the code, and once again called herself stupid. No matter how much she read through it, she couldn’t put it together, and it brought her down badly every time. She couldn’t just let it go, not when this _someone_ actually might have info as to _what on earth it is._

She decided she would at least correspond with them, get to know their intentions. She picked up the laptop off her bed and started typing.

“ _Um, no? How can I know you’re not a psycho? Why don’t you just tell me what the hell that code means and get on with it?”_

Yes, that sounded about right. She was still irritated, even though she needed the potential help.

She unpaused her movie, and laid back.  


* * *

 

Leo smiled at the message. He liked that __hu-bot97__ was holding back. He would have found it weird if they agreed on the spot. Still, he felt obligated to warn them about the relevance of their code, and the fact that it should not just be put online at ease. He replied:  


“ _Look, if you don’t want help, fine, but I’m not saying anything online about it, either. I’m just saying that I have an idea what it’s about, and it would be good for you to remove it off the forum ASAP. I’m not kidding, hu-bot. Please meet me? I promise I’m not weird.”_

He hit send and didn’t move this time. The reply came shortly afterwards.

 **hu-bot97:** _Remove it? What, is it confidential data or something? Sure you’re not weird. Not at all._

 **User885:** _Okay, maybe I’m a little weird._

 **User885: …** _I’m serious, though._

 **Hu-bot97:** _Very well, then. I pick the place. It’s going to be public, so that when you murder me, at least there will be witnesses._

 **User885:** _noted._

 **hu-bot97:** _how will I know who you are?_

 **User885:** _i’ll be wearing lots of layers. I also have this beard that I really do not want to shave for this occasion._

 **Hu-bot97:** _By the way, I have pepper spray on me at all times. Don’t get ideas. I’ll be wearing jeans (shocker) and a dark red hoodie. Brown hair._

Leo smirked. Guess it’s a girl. Not that it meant much to him, but he _was_ kind of impressed by her boldness.

 

Mattie sent him the location, telling him to meet her there at five PM, tomorrow, when her classes ended.  
Leo knew the café, so he didn’t bother looking it up. He didn’t know why, but he felt excited about this meeting.

He felt so good about it, actually, that he went back and finished decoding Hobb’s emails. It didn’t seem so tedious anymore. Still, no luck finding any good information in them. Just reports about the success of his business, which was, secretly, human trafficking. _Slimey old bastard,_ Leo thought.

After a while, he went to bed, hoping to get at least four hours of sleep. As he lay there, he realized it wouldn’t be so easy. His mind kept racing to _hu-bot97_ and her code and the fact that her professor may or may not be involved with Hobb.

But mostly to Hu-Bot (which is how he preferred to call her, since it was easier than adding the numbers in as well). All he knew was that she had brown hair, that she carried pepper spray, and that she was a headcracker, and yet it was still enough for him to dream about her.


	2. Headcrackers and Princesses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 1 of Leo and Mattie's "meeting"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize in advance for all possible hacker-inaccuracies. I am in no way an expert in such things - which sucks, because most of the dialogue in this fic is spent talking about hacking and cracking and whatever kids these days call it.

At 6 AM, only three short hours after she went to bed while scolding herself for agreeing to this, Mattie woke up. It was also eleven hours before she met this mystery guy that wanted to help her with a possibly criminal string of code. It was all very tempting, if she was being honest, so she decided she would try not to think about it too much during her classes, because it would only be a waste of time. She could predict all she wanted, but she couldn’t really know what was going to happen. Best she left it alone. 

She looked in the mirror, brushed through her sleep-messy hair only slightly, so that she wouldn’t look like a scarecrow, brushed her teeth and headed out the door. The day was a rare sunny one of October and she had put on only a themed t-shirt, when she remembered that she told _User885_ that she would be wearing a hoodie. Curse her for not checking the weather report. She ran to her closet and retrieved her hoodie, slung it over her shoulder and left the dorm.

 

The day went by rather quickly, in retrospect. None of her classes were a hassle, and she managed to only get caught not paying attention twice. She headed for the café once her final class was over, and was halfway off campus when she heard her name being called. Harun. 

The tall Indian boy approached her rather enthusiastically, his clothes flapping behind him as he ran toward her. Mattie smiled.  
  
“Hey, Harun. What’s up?” – she greeted him.

“Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to join me for an after-school smoking special?”, he sounded hopeful. He really was a good friend to her, but she felt that his eagerness was big enough for the both of them.  


“Sorry, man. I’m off to meet someone for an assignment. Maybe another time?” She fidgeted and looked in the direction she was going. It had been at least a week since she last hung out with him. She noticed the smile rub off Harun’s face as he listened to her. Nothing she could do there, now.

“Oh, okay. See you around!” he practically forced the words out his mouth before he turned around and walked away. Mattie made a mental note to buy him a pack of cigarettes as compensation for her behavior.

 

She hurried down the road, to the little place that always seemed to have more customers than any other café she’d seen around. They were always milling around, getting their coffee and chatting and being overly friendly. It wasn’t her style, but when she needed someplace comfortable, this was where she would come. Sometimes it was nice to be surrounded by others. _Sometimes._

She got there two minutes early and took a seat in a booth big enough for six people. Her hoodie was still not on her, so she just put it around her back. She dug her laptop out of her bag, ordered a latte, and began scrolling through her other assignments for the week.

She was on her second page when a pale, heavily dressed figure sat across her silently. She was a bit startled, but not for long. She came for this. 

 

“ _User885?”_ – she asked. He looked… _gloomy._ Like he hadn’t slept for weeks. Still, she wasn’t disappointed in his looks. He slumped forward, but was looking at her. His eyes were stormy blue, and she wondered why he let his hair grow over them. She felt like they needed to be shared with the world.

  
“ _Hu-Bot_?” he replied, and she did not expect that voice to come off those lips. It seemed too gentle. _How can something sound gentle while sounding so urgent?_  


  
“Actually, it’s _hu-bot_ 97, for you. We’re not at the nicknaming stage, yet.”, she smirked. She didn’t expect him to laugh, however.  
“Very well. But you can still call me Leo. _User885_ might be a mouthful.” He said as he shook off the last of his small laugh.

She almost retorted with _Oh, a_ mouthful _, you say?_ in her best innuendo voice, but stopped herself quickly. They weren’t _that_ close. Leo was a nice name, she thought after composing herself. She couldn’t quite decide if it suited him or not.

 _“Okay, Leo. So you’ve read my assignment. Care to enlighten me to its meaning?”_  


* * *

Leo found himself easing into the conversation.

He didn’t know why Hu-Bot was so easy to talk to about programming or conspiracies, but still wouldn’t tell him her name. It had been an hour since they met and they’ve already gotten to talk about the major problems with the encryptions. He still hadn’t gotten to the Hobb part, but was getting close.

At this point, he thought he could trust her with that kind of information, but still wouldn’t rush into it. Hobb Inc. was something he felt like he needed to get rid of on his own, to prove – to whom, he didn’t know – that terrible people always got their punishment. (As Leo would, too, eventually. He knew he didn’t really deserve much better.)

Hu-Bot seemed too nice to be pulled into that dirt. He still hadn’t figured out if she was strong and serious enough. Maybe it was her age (she told him she was a sophomore in college, which made her nineteen or twenty, only four years younger than him, but still), or maybe it was the fact that he hadn’t spoken to anyone other than his adopted family in _years._ It was a quiet life he lived, and wasn’t too proud of it.

After another fifteen minutes of explaining to her why he thought the files led to secrets the owner would not like to share,  - the program being one to find and exploit a whole lot of people’s finances and the people themselves, - their conversation was stopped by the waitress asking if they wanted more coffee. They both agreed, being caffeine addicts for years on end.

 

It didn’t pick back up, though. He looked at her after the waitress left, and was out of words. She had put her head on her hands, elbows on the table, and was looking at him like he was a parent telling a really interesting bedtime story. She blinked and her dark brown eyes seemed to sparkle in the light. Who knew someone would get that interested in stories of large companies actually being cover-ups for dirt that no man had ever seen before.

If he had been honest with himself, he’d have admitted she looked like a princess at that moment. But he was too chicken for it. He felt the blush creep up on him, and he cleared his throat.

“So, I think it’s about time you told me your name. Or _nickname_? “, his face was smug behind the smile.

Surprisingly, though, she smiled back and said, “Mattie. Matilda, whatever. Nice to meet you”, she reached out her hand to shake his in a dramatic gesture. He obliged, and her touch sent currents down his body.  
  
For long, he’d felt out of his skin, like he couldn’t feel anything. Not heat, or cold, not a bruise or a cut. But her touch seemed to awaken every cell in his body and send it rushing to his stomach.

He blushed, and pulled his hand away.  
“Nice to meet you, Mattie Matilda Whatever.”

 


	3. Headcrackers and Gratitude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of Leo and Mattie's "meeting"

“So you must be pretty good at this if you got a personal assignment this hard to crack.” It wasn’t a question, but Leo paused to let her speak.

“I mean, I guess so? I’m pretty stupid otherwise, but – “ Leo interrupted, “No, you’re not. I don’t believe that for a second.”, he said earnestly.

Mattie blushed. “Yeah, well, thanks. But this is actually the only thing I’m good at at all.” She looked down and smiled mostly to herself. She’d only known Leo for over an hour and he already seemed to think her smart. It was a rather big deal.

He was still looking at her, back now straightened, his arms on the table, hands gripping his coffee cup that still steamed. She thought it all so unlikely that she had to take a moment to assess her situation.

She was in a _crowded_ café, with a reasonably handsome man who regarded her as the only person in the room, and who decided after a short conversation that she was more than she thought of herself. Also, his _eyes._ She couldn’t stop marveling at them, and they kept on her, whereas she always either glared at people or looked away entirely. To be able to have such a pleasure to stare into the deep blue of them… Well, it’s not like she wasn’t _grateful as fuck._

She was brought back to reality when her phone started ringing, and she reluctantly pulled it out of her pocket. ‘ _Sophie calling…’_ – the screen read. She looked at Leo apologetically and answered the phone with a small smile.

“Hey, Soph. What’s up?” – she turned a bit from Leo and was rather quiet. Sophie, on the other hand, was ecstatic.

“Mom got us a _maid_! Mattie she is so cool, she even reads me stories and plays with me! Her name is Anita and she has black hair and green eyes and she does everything we ask her and she is good friends with all of us already and – “

Mattie was smiling still, but knew her sister would go on forever if she didn’t stop her. “That’s great, Soph. Tell mom thanks, for getting you a new friend since I’m not there, okay? And make sure you don’t annoy Anita. You don’t want to scare her away, do you?” her voice was warm.

“Yeah, okay. Mom says hi, and Toby and Dad as well. Please come home, soon, Matt. I miss you _very_ much!”  
“Sure thing, Princess. Tell them all I said Hi. I gotta go, but I’ll talk to you soon.”  
“Okay, bye.” Sophie sounded disappointed, but hopeful as well.  
“Bye, bye” Mattie crooned into her phone, and ended the call.

She turned back to Leo who was rather staring at her, amusement in his eyes. Mattie’s instinct response was to get defensive. “It was my little sister.” – she said as she glared at him, and he only chuckled but it sounded kind-hearted. “How old is she?” – he asked.

“She’s five, _and a half_ ” she added in a dramatic tone, which Leo took as an impression of her sister’s voice. 

Mattie smiled, “She doesn’t let me say just _five_ anymore, not since she figured out the whole ‘time is progressing constantly, and you are older every day’ thing.”

“You two seem close.” Leo noted, and he almost sounded envious.

Mattie smirked, “Yeah, well. Even with my brother, I was a bit lonely when she was born. She was a God-sent. Instant bond, that kind of thing.”

 

“Oh.” – was all Leo said. It wasn’t like he had any idea how to even respond to that. Especially not since he was in the same situation.

How do you tell someone your dad paid four kids – who _did_ become his closest family and cared for him deeply – to hang around with him once he figured out, at the age of thirteen, that home-schooling and being alone all the time was _not_ normal. Even the friends he had at the time sounded like robots – someone made to do his bidding.

He didn’t think so, now, but that doesn’t erase his feelings from then. He knew loneliness.

The silence between them seemed to drag for a bit, as they both sipped from their respective cups and decidedly looked away from each other.

Mattie thought she had noticed sadness in Leo’s eyes as a response to what she had said, and she realized that the sadness was not for her, but rather a personal one, like he was remembering something and couldn’t hold it back. She wondered about what brought it on.  

She suddenly felt so protective of him. She felt like she needed to hold him tight and know all his secrets and past and never let anyone cause that look on his face again.

 

A man that’d been sitting not far away from them started laughing loudly, and that shook her back to reality ( _for the second time already! Jeez, Matilda, get a grip on yourself!)._ She looked at her phone, reflexively, and noticed that it was 7:46 PM already. Almost three hours had passed.

As much as she hated to say it, she had to. “I best get going. Meet you again?” she was hopeful. And then, “… to get the assignment done completely, that is.” – although it wasn’t. She hadn’t even remembered it until she started packing her laptop.

“Um, yeah. Sure. Different place next time? Somewhere more quiet?” Leo said. His voice was just as gentle as it was when she’d first heard it, if not even more so. There was almost a tone of friendliness in it, now.

She’d definitely like to talk to him without dozens of other voices accompanying her own. And _his,_ for that matter.

‘ _The acoustic version is always better than the studio one,’_ she remembered Harun saying. ‘ _You can hear the small details, the singer’s breath, their switching of chords, and all the little imperfections.’_

How funny this would be the time for her to agree.

Leo was still looking at her expectantly, so she nodded a bit too quickly. “Definitely.”  
He gave one of his small smiles, his lips just barely twitching at the sides. “I know just the place.”


	4. Headcrackers and Taylor Swift

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: there is only a brief mention of Taylor Swift in here. They do not actually meet her. (Although that would make an amazing AU--- someone please write it??? I'd laugh my ass off.)
> 
> Leo and Mattie don't have any real interactions here, but I think this chapter might be worth your time :)
> 
> I hope you enjoy it, and please don't be shy to leave comments, they are my literal food, willpower and energy source.

Two days later, Mattie was finally finishing up with her post-class revision and getting ready for the weekend. She barely had time to recall her meeting with Leo, except for when she was restless before her sleep, when she kept seeing his eyes and scruff every time she shut her eyelids.

Her professor, Mr. Millican, did not give any hints to Mattie that he thought she might be onto something with the code. He seemed so indifferent that she even started thinking that he didn't even know he sent it to her.

That got her paranoid, and she had to tell Leo. Which brought her mind back to his voice, and _him_ in general; and round and round it went.

When she woke up on Saturday morning, she gave Harun a call. She needed some company to keep her mind off Wednesday's events. She also needed something to smoke, while she was at it.

"I thought you abandoned me!" Harun's voice was loud through her speaker, and there was some music coming through. Knowing Harun, he wasn't in a club, but rather his own room. 

She could practically smell the smoke around him. She welcomed the idea wholeheartedly.

She knew his parents were never around, and she didn’t mind that. It _would_ have been better if they actually cared much for Harun, rather than just left him alone and never bothered to hug him or ask him about his day. Harun was a grown-up now, he’d learned to handle it, but she still remembered his desperation during their high-school days and wanted to punch a wall. No one deserved that.

On her way there, Mattie picked up that pack of cigarettes she planned on buying him at a store. He had plenty, but she knew it was the best of gifts.

He was waiting for her at the front door to his, well, _mansion_. It was grand in the grandest of ways, beige in the _pastel_ -iest of ones. It was in Spanish-style, lit all around, with a front yard the size of her neighborhood. She often wondered how Harun’s parents could have afforded it, but always went back to the fact that they were constantly at work. 

She went in with him, greeted with a peck on the cheek and a smile.

She spent the afternoon smoking one _thing_ after another – cigarettes weren’t the _only_ passion Harun had. She got the habit from him. The haze almost had her oblivious to the sounds of Taylor Swift blasting through Harun’s computer speakers, but not really. She still managed to complain to him about it.   
Mattie, however, never got up to turn it off, or switch it. The complaining was also just a habit, at this point.

Later, she fell asleep and couldn’t remember much when she woke up again… Still high, all she got from her brain was this stormy blue color, and that feeling you get when someone smiles at you wholeheartedly. She brushed it off as nothing, but kept seeing it for the rest of the night.

* * *

 

Leo was back in his uptown apartment, almost the entire block consisting of abandoned buildings, broken windows and boarded doors. It was a big change, coming here from his childhood house filled with… life. Sure, he didn’t have neighbors even then, but at least he knew he was secure.

He didn’t worry much about intruders, per se, but his place felt a bit empty without his adopted family. Mia and Max still visited regularly, and sometimes even slept over, but it wasn’t the same. They weren’t living the same life now. 

He was glad that the both of them managed to separate themselves from him before he got pulled into “the path of the Righteous Man” as Maxie had called it.

(This wasn’t the first time Leo got his mind set on overthrowing corrupted people and their corrupted organizations. Leo couldn’t count on his hands the amount of times he used illegal means to flush out bigger evils. He was reckless that way.)

Mia didn’t want Leo to get hurt, and neither did Max, but he was quicker to accept why it had to be done. 

Max even helped Leo out, occasionally – acquiring seemingly irrelevant information from his friends at the local food center. One wouldn’t even realize how much ‘big fish’ walks through that place on a daily basis. Max, who knew what to look for, was rather brilliant at smiling his way into other people’s secrets.

Leo decided it was time for Max to scout out this professor of Mattie’s, so he called him to come over.

 

Max was leaving his coat by the door in ten minutes’ time, and hugging Leo tightly, giving his signature grin. That always made Leo feel good, no matter what.

He offered Max coffee, but he politely declined, as always. Max didn’t need caffeine, but that never stopped Leo from asking. He’d agreed to a cup of hot chocolate, and Leo was already preparing it, meanwhile telling him about his recent findings.

“… So the source code, once translated and cracked in regular Hobb-style, actually translates to code for a program, rather than just showing random text in-between brackets. I thought it would execute as malware once I translated it, but I found no effects taking place. My next guess is that it’s used to, _intelligently_ – however impossible it may sound – coerce people into doing Hobb’s work themselves: give him all their money, meet him at a private place, get lost, disappear off the face of the Earth only to be sold to the Balkan version of Hobb – you know the drill…” Leo was in full _Leo_ mode, showing Max all the proof, getting more on edge as he got deeper into it. 

Max left him hours later, once they’ve caught up to other stuff as well, and once he promised Leo he would do whatever it took to track down Mattie’s professor and assess his psychological being. Now, as long as the man wasn’t a machine, Max would be able to read him well enough.

Leo was alone once again, but more determined this time. He couldn’t escape his worries about Max or Mattie – he wasn’t so sure about her safety, not after there was a third person involved now, and things could go all kinds of wrong – so he wanted to at least make sure she was safe while Max was on his mission.

It was time he showed her the wonders of _The Mind Palace._

* * *

 

**user885:** _I got a lead on our case. Are you sure you want to meet me again?_

The reply came ten whole minutes later.

**hu-bot97:** _We agreed we would meet. I am not a liar._

* * *

 

It took Mattie _ages_ to convince herself not to reply with _‘I thought you’d never ask’._

Of course she’d seen the message right away. She’d set _user885’_ s notifications on high-alert.


	5. Headcrackers and Orgasmic Muffins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Mind Palace, and its wonders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> an AU gives a girl all sorts of liberties. so i created the perfect place i want someday to exist...  
> oh, and yes, the name of the place was in a way a Sherlock reference. it was also fitting, so...

It’s 2 PM on Sunday and Mattie is taking the bus to the less visited part of uptown, as instructed by Leo. She hadn’t had reason to go there before, but she trusted Leo’s choice of a quiet meeting point. He didn’t look like someone who liked crowded places and loud music. Maybe, if she liked it, she would visit on her own for study sessions. Her room was starting to feel claustrophobic, even for her. New scenery might even improve her grades.

Fifteen minutes into her trip, she reached her station and quietly thanked the bus driver as she got out. If there hadn’t been any buildings, Mattie would’ve thought the place was a graveyard. Leo could’ve told her the private meeting place was the _pavement_ , and she would’ve believed him. She looked up at the looming apartment buildings, and noticed signs of life on only a few.

She wondered if Leo lived in any of those places that had curtains, but her thoughts were stopped short when she saw him approaching her from the other side of the street. He was wearing the same clothes, more or less. Maybe they weren’t exactly the same, but she figured this was his style.

A t-shirt under a flannel under a hoodie. If it hadn’t been warm, she took a guess he’d have a jacket over all that, too.

She smiled as he came closer, and was glad to see him return the smile – no matter how small. She noticed that his smiles weren’t so focused on the lips, but rather on the gleam in his eyes - definitely her favorite part of him.

They were one of those things you take a claim on as soon as you see them. No matter how much something else seemed logically better, you stuck to that one little thing. It reminded her of her dad’s cellphone, one of those with _buttons_ , and she chuckled softly.

Leo cocked his head to the side. She just shook her head, and then he motioned her to come along.

They walked a few blocks in silence, when she asked “Where are you taking me? You know that I still have that pepper spray, right?” – she joked, but still her hand moved to her purse, which also contained her laptop, phone, and some other personal belongings.

Leo turned his head to her and said quietly, his voice deeper and serious: “Only _the most amazing café_ you’ve ever been to.” He gave her a knowing smile, and raised his head confidently, which was new for Mattie to see. He was always slouching.

It gave her a boost of confidence, too, seeing him like that. He sounded so assured, she figured it had to be either _that_ good or extremely personal. She didn’t mind either.

“Are we there yet?” she asked.

“It’s just a minute’s walk from here.”

“What is it called? Do I get to hear a description before I get inside?” she was curious.

“It’s called _The Mind Palace_. It’s this very obscured café you can only get in if you get ‘invited’ “ – he actually made the air-quotes. Mattie hadn’t seen anyone do that in ages. – “by a friend, and that friend can vouch for your silence and rule following. The rules, by the way, are simple. You do not talk of the café other than to people you know _need_ to visit it – you’ll see why – and you don’t post anything about it. It’s a really private place, great for thinking, working, studying, et cetera.” Leo was even whispering, which made Mattie realize he was absolutely serious about it all.

“And to what do I owe the pleasure of you inviting me?”  She asked. This didn’t seem like something you just tell people you’ve met a few days ago about.

“Let’s just say it’s guaranteed no one will hear what we’re saying, which is convenient because of _what I will be saying_ ; and also they have the best muffins you’ve ever tasted.” Leo said.

Now _that_ , Mattie could take. Leo couldn’t know, but it was like he did, that she was very fond of muffins, pastries, and the like. She was practically sold at the very mention of it.

They walked a couple more feet, when Leo stopped in his tracks. There was no sign of a café whatsoever. All around them were the same kinds of buildings she’d been seeing ever since she came off the bus. He looked at her and she raised her eyebrows.

He smiled wistfully and walked over to the plain white door opposite him and opened it. She suddenly didn’t want to follow him. He couldn’t have been lying all this time, could he?

Turned out, he wasn’t. The Mind Palace was so well concealed, you never would have known it was there. They went through the white door, down the steps to the basement, through a bland hallway and stopped at another door, like an apartment. There was soft music coming through, but nothing one wouldn’t guess was just a stereo.

Leo opened it up and there they were. It was more a hotel than a café, Mattie thought at first.

There was even a receptionist. Sure, it was technically just a lanky teenager behind a simple desk, but a receptionist it was. He saw Leo and smiled at him. Then he turned to Mattie.

“She signed in?” he was still looking at her, but obviously speaking to Leo. He spoke with authority, and even though he looked around sixteen, Mattie could tell he had earned it.

“She’s with me.” Leo said. The boy raised his bushy eyebrows in surprise.

“Well I’ll be damned. _Leo E_. brought in a Plus One. I gotta tell the crew about this, they’re not gonna believe me!” he seemed ecstatic to have seen this in person. It confirmed Mattie’s suspicions about Leo not being a people person.

“Look, Jeremy, just let us in please?” Leo said.

He looked uncomfortable. Mattie felt the same way. Luckily, Jeremy let them in, still grinning.

And then Mattie saw walls. Lots and lots of white speckled walls, intertwining and stretching out, short walls and those that reached out forever… it was like a maze. She wondered if she would have to solve it to get to the muffins, since she really didn’t feel like it. And then Leo explained.

“It looks weird, and that’s because it is. I like to call this a park. A _very white, very indoor_ park. The whole place is soundproofed from both sides, and it cannot be detected by any means. It’s built so that whoever went in, wherever they sat, had complete privacy. The tables for two are this way – “ he motioned as he walked on to the right, and she followed, not daring to interrupt.

Harun was right about the acoustic version. The music had already been getting a lot quieter, and she could hear Leo loud and clear – even though he was whispering, it was like he was whispering right into her ear. Like no one else could hear him except for her. Like he was speaking directly into her mind. She enjoyed it way more than she would admit.

He continued, “Where you would find trees in a park, you can find walls and cubicles in here. Where you would find a bench, you can find a room with a table and power here. Even when you know someone will be here, if you don’t know the number of their room, you could search for hours and still fail to find them.”

 

Mattie wasn’t exactly getting paranoid, but it still sounded off. Such places didn’t just exist like that. Not outside the movies. She liked it more with each step.

They turned right at a corner, and again at another. She trusted Leo at this point, and no longer tried to remember so she could trace back her steps.

“Here we are.” Leo was still quiet, reserved as usual. He thought over every word he said, Mattie noticed.

There was another white door with a number on it – they'd walked past many of those so far, and the numbers seemed completely random.  The number on this one read 885.

“Funny.” Mattie told him, motioning at the door.

Leo huffed and raised his eyebrows, as if daring her to comment further. He opened the door and let her in before him.

What she saw wasn’t surprising for this place. Leo’d already explained it. The room was roughly the size of that booth she sat in when they first met, with exactly that feeling in it. There was a sofa on one end, facing the rather large table that was something in between a desk and a coffee table. On the other side were two matching chairs. There were power sockets everywhere. On each side of the room, there were at least three. The room was well-lit, everything in it either white like the walls or a light blue color.

It was kind of home-y, considering it was a café and possibly also a sex-dungeon. The lack of chains in the place was rather comforting, Mattie noticed.

Leo slumped on one of the chairs, and Mattie followed onto the sofa. He pulled out his computer, so she did the same. Neither of them were much for talking, but Mattie started the conversation out of burning curiosity.

“So how do you order in this place?” she asked.

Leo simply opened a drawer under the table that had gone unnoticed by Mattie and procured a tablet with the number 885 – again – scribbled onto its back with a simple marker. He turned it on and she saw the screen light up with the words “The Mind Palace” flashing, and then a virtual menu popped up, pictures and prices and everything.

He handed her the tablet, and said “Pick whatever you want, it’ll arrive shortly via machines. I pay for this room monthly, so everything’s already taken care of.”

Mattie liked how he used the word _via_ in real life. Such a nerd.

She scrolled through the beverages – that, admittedly, did look very inviting – since she wasn’t very thirsty, and got to the pastry menu. The pictures, she thought, had to have come off the foodporn tag on Tumblr. No way they had them made this well.

She tapped on the chocolate chip muffins, and a window opened, asking her about the amount she would like. She looked at Leo, but he only shrugged. She ordered six, because she planned on sharing with him, and had a feeling they would be here a while.

She added a latte just for the sake of it, and looked again at Leo. This time, he said he’d have black coffee.  She placed the order and set the tablet down.

While she was doing that, Leo had already set up his computer, and turned hers on. It was password-protected so he just turned it over to her now.

She entered her password and waited for the system to load. It didn’t even reach 90% when she heard a whirring sound outside the door. Alarmed, she turned her head toward the entrance, but Leo was already up and opening the door. Outside it stood a plastic box, steam coming out. Their order.

She exhaled and went back to her laptop, which now waited ready for her.

Leo brought in the box and opened it.

The smell alone was enough to make Mattie feel true bliss. She grabbed one of the muffins mid-keystroke and bit into it right away.

“This tastes how sex feels!” she exclaimed, and then realized what she did. She felt the blush creeping up on her, quickly.

Embarrassed, she looked up anyway. Leo had amusement in his eyes, but he was blushing, too. He looked away, and, typing, quietly added: “Told you so.”

Mattie cleared her throat, and decided it was time to get to work.

In no time, Leo was telling her everything he’d told Max the other day, and even more.

* * *

 

When she asked him how he’d decrypted the file, he told her about his months trying to figure out the data his worms sent him from Hobb’s computers.

When she wondered out loud how he figured out Hobb was a bad guy – she was always naturally suspicious, but never got the idea from the (apparently not so-) friendly software company – he told her about his dad, who'd worked with Hobb before he killed himself, apparently partly triggered by something fishy that was going on at work.

When she asked why she'd never heard of him and his accomplishments in the hacker community, he told her all about his anonymity, and determination to lay low.

 

She was transferring the data to her own computer now, and while she was waiting, reluctant, she asked “Why me? Why are you sharing all this with _me,_ then?”

She watched him as he breathed, not answering right away. He looked anywhere but her. His own voice was quiet as he finally did, “Maybe I _needed_ to share with someone.”

 

 


	6. Headcrackers and Butterflies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mattie may or may not conform to the butterfly-in-stomach cliche.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys I really really hope you like this one, it's the fluffiest so far.... (as fluffy as my Leo and Mats can get, anyway)  
> make sure to let me know what you thought of it ;)

Mattie thought about everything he’d told her in just one day, and couldn’t even imagine how much courage it took to do so. How desperate he must have been to have someone to tell it to. To get it off his back.  
She knew the feeling.

“Who else knows?” she wanted to be assured that he wasn’t _really completely_ on his own. She wouldn’t have been able to handle _that_ truth.

“Just you and my family.” Leo said.       

Relief. “You have siblings?” she wondered if they were like him.

“I guess you could say that. There are four of them, and I’ve lived with them since I was a kid.” Leo said.

“What are they like?” Mattie inquired.

It took Leo a couple breaths in silence to answer. “ _Everything._ ” His voice was calm, sure… _Proud._  
Mattie smiled widely. No one she knew described their family in such a way. There was a constant rambling about ‘annoying’, and ‘hating’, and ‘disliking’.

She knew nothing else but that she was glad that Leo had them.

He continued without her pressing him for once, “There’s Mia, who’s like a mother to me – she even calls me ‘young man’, and I’m only a couple years younger! –, and there’s Max, who’s the best of them all. He brings the rainbow after the rain. Those two I couldn’t live without for a single day.” Leo was grinning unknowingly, and Mattie felt butterflies in her stomach – _Gosh, what a stupid cliché,_ she thought. It still applied, though.

“And the other two?” she urged him to keep going. When else would she get a chance to have him speak passionately about something other than computer science to her? She would cherish every second of this happening.

“The third one’s called Fred. He’s the grown-up child of us – he always scolds the rest of us for “bad things” – “ _Again with the air quotes._ She was going to get used to it, and what if she started doing it as well? _Oh, no._ “but he’s a lot of fun, himself. Loves sports.”

Leo paused abruptly, as if reproached by a higher-force. He frowned, and Mattie felt the old Leo sinking back into his body again. He clenched his jaw, and his eyes got fierce – with something that can only have been sadness and regret.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Mattie was genuinely worried. It was two more seconds before he collected himself.

“Hmm?”

“Are you okay?” she repeated.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry.” Leo’s voice was normal, as if nothing had happened. He relaxed his shoulders, and took a sip of his coffee.

“What about your fourth sibling? Did something happen?” Mattie wondered. She couldn’t keep her curiosity at bay. It was unlike her, but so was meeting strangers online – especially after what happened to Toby when he decided he would ‘Date a hot single in his area’. The boy still avoided the Internet as much as he could.

“Niska is… well, Niska does things her own way. Lives inside her own world. She is a rebel, of sorts.” He said, something akin to resent intertwined with love dripping off his voice. Mattie decided not to inquire further. Obviously the mention of this Niska brought on sour memories.

She figured she could try to cheer him up, bring that smile back.

She chuckled, somewhat forcefully, and added, “Oh, you know that sister I told you about? Also a rebel. I think they’d get along great!”

Leo let out a low chuckle, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Not even his nose, while we’re at it. “I’m not so sure about that.”

“No, I’m serious.” Mattie continued, “This one time, she lost her toy at a gazebo three towns over, and fled from home to go find it. She made it four houses down the street before we caught her. Wouldn’t let us take her inside until that toy was found. She was four, then.” She reminisced. The memories flooded in, and she wanted to share them all.

She realized she wanted Leo to know her. She wanted to be the one that brought as big a smile to his face as Max or Mia did. 

Leo seemed distracted enough by her stories that he was now leaning toward her from the chair.

He sat there awkwardly, elbows on knees, holding a muffin he’d started nibbling on while she was telling him about Sophie’s adventures.

He was watching her intently, his smile softening with every story, every moment further from the mention of his own sister.

Mattie’s voice faltered. She was just telling him about how Soph and Toby had agreed not to tell their mother they’d seen her smoking, but her words wouldn’t come out anymore. It was like she’d drained the bucket of babble and it was left upside down over Leo’s head, leftover drops falling here and there.

She gazed at him, and tried to figure out _who_ he was. One second, he was discussing nation-wide threats to humanity that he wanted to eradicate, the other, he was stammering on about his secret life…  
His mood depended on what he was talking about, or listening to, as Mattie remarked.

And when he listened to _her_ … She saw him smile. And his smile, well, she’d give up those muffins made in Heaven forever, just to see it happen.

She would give up justice in the world. But _that_ wouldn’t make him happy, she knew. So she would be the one to _give_ him that justice.

“I want in.” She said, loud and clear. It broke the silence, and he startled.

“I’m sorry?” He didn’t understand her question right away.

“I want in. To track and bring down Hobb. I can help.” She was determined, and she would get her way.

“You most definitely _cannot_!” It was one of those silent yells, his face getting red.

“How so?” Mattie was getting angrier, herself. “Am I not competent enough?”

Leo looked hurt. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?” she would not let this opportunity go, not when there was so much at stake.

“I will not do that to you. Ruin your life.” Leo said honestly.

That stopped her in her tracks. “How would that ruin my life?” she was quieter now.

  
“Bad things happen, Matilda. This is not a safe world. The things we do aren’t exactly legal.” He was evidently trying to be patient.

“I am an adult. I know what I would be getting into. This isn’t my first breaking of the law, but that doesn’t mean I would regret it.” She explained.

There were a couple moments of silence as he looked her over, as if assessing the situation that was _Mattie Hawkins._ His breathing was hard, but he looked her in the eye when he asked, “Are you sure?”

Mattie’s heart beat so loudly in her chest, she wondered if he could hear it. It was a few beats before she answered, smug, “Eight hundred and eighty five percent.”

There it was, the smile. Albeit reluctant and wistful, it was right there in front of her, and she was now absolutely sure about everything. And most sure about _Leo._

* * *

 

As he was walking her out of the maze café again, and they'd said goodbye to Jeremy, Mattie’s will became stronger with every step. This world would finally benefit from her existence.

As it was half an hour before the next bus to the neighborhood came, Leo insisted he waited with her for it. _‘Not a safe street.’_ He’d said. Mattie appreciated his concern.

A few minutes before the bus came, she turned to face Leo.

She was nervous, but she made herself say it.

“Leo…”  
“Yes?” he was quick to respond, _too_ quick for Leo.

“Look. I am going to say something, and I don’t want you to interrupt until I’m done, okay?” She said.

He furrowed his brows, curious, and waited for her to continue.

When he didn’t actually say anything, Mattie did.

“Listen. None of us are perfect. Everyone in this god-forsaken world is screwed up one way or another. We are brought down by our thoughts, but that doesn’t mean we have to hold them in, and not let anyone know.” She pointed her finger at him when he opened his mouth to say something in the middle of her sentence. He immediately closed it, obedient.

She took a deep breath and in a slower voice, said, “Leo, I want to _know_ you.”

There, she’d said it. No going back.

They weren’t words that special, but she’d figured out enough about him to know the meaning they would have taken on him.

His eyes widened, and a blush painted his cheeks.

She waited for what felt like forever for him to answer. The bus arrived and the door opened.

Leo finally decided to come back to reality.

He took a step forward, and in his sincerest voice she’d heard so far, said “I want to be known _by you._ ”

She smiled as she got on the bus, her eyes never leaving his. It would have taken at least a sea of insecticide to kill off _those_ butterflies.


	7. Headcrackers and Angel Brothers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max meets with Leo and Mattie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the comments I've gotten so far, and the ones to come. They really mean a lot to me.   
> Thanks again, to everyone reading this story, and sticking around for so long :)
> 
> I've now started school, so updates may come a bit further apart, but the AU won't last many more chapters, anyway, so I think it should be okay for me to get it done before exams and studying get in the way.

It hadn’t even been a full twenty four hours before Mattie got a message from Leo asking her to meet him again at The Mind Palace. She was just about to get to her last class of the day, and was checking her inbox for updates. The message brought back the feelings from yesterday, but she very firmly ordered them – with actual words spoken to her torso – to stay back until the matter was resolved.

‘ _When?’ –_ she replied. Leo was online, apparently, because he responded within seconds: ‘ASAP.’

She wanted to bolt through the door right then, but with everything going on, she couldn’t miss classes as well – she figured her exam performance would definitely take a dive if she was getting serious about hacking billion-dollar corporations. And she was. She’d been thinking about possible entries to Hobb’s system all throughout her day.

‘ _I’ll meet you at the entrance in 90 mins. I’ve got a class to run to now. See ya!’ –_ she hit _send_ and in fact ran to her class. She laughed at her own closing to that message on her way. Like she was meeting a friend for another game of Gossip-Weekly. _See ya!...in prison! HA!_ –she thought to herself.

Time couldn’t pass quickly enough. She was the first out the door when her professor – God bless her soul – dismissed them fifteen minutes early.

The bus came on time and she smiled politely at the driver as she took the seat behind him.

Luckily, she remembered her way down the streets from the bus stop to the café, and was there with ten minutes to spare. But she wasn’t the only one waiting.

There was a boy at the door, whistling cheerfully with earphones on, just standing there. He looked at her and smiled widely. He was taller than Mattie, but his presence was comforting in a way.   
He took out his earphones, and extended his hand to her. “You must be Matilda. Nice to meet you, I am Max Elster.”

_Wait, was that Leo’s_ _brother?_ – Mattie thought.

She shook his hand and grinned back at him – she couldn’t seem to hold it in. The guy practically _radiated_ rainbows and puppies.   
“I’ve heard a lot about you, Max.” It wasn’t true, but she’d heard enough.

“Is that so?” Max answered. “I wouldn’t think Leo is a person to share family stories. But then again, he doesn’t share much of _anything._ The solitude would kill him one day, I keep telling him. He never listens – “

“Who never listens to what?” came a voice behind him.

Leo looked skeptical, but it seemed to be just for show.

“Hello, Leo.” Max said, and then he hugged him tightly, still grinning. Mattie saw Leo’s tensed shoulders relax. It made her feel oddly unwanted. Like she was watching a private exchange. Thankfully, it didn’t last long.

 

Leo turned to her, and seemed to struggle to catch her eye.  
“I think we should go inside. We have a lot to discuss.” He gave Max a knowing look, and then led the way in.

They passed Jeremy, who was just as surprised as the day before that Leo wasn’t alone. Mattie gave him an awkward wave as she walked past him. He beamed at her.

The path to room 885 was still unfamiliar to her, and just as puzzling. She tried to memorize it, and did – at least, she memorized half of the way, and then her brain couldn’t follow up. She was too nervous about this random encounter with Max, and about what Leo had to share with the two of them.

As they got inside, she remembered the muffins, and felt at least a bit better.

Once they’d ordered – the same as yesterday for Mattie and Leo, and ice tea for Max – Leo went straight to business.

 

* * *

Leo still felt distressed from yesterday, and couldn’t meet Mattie’s eye. It was a moment of weakness for him, and he now felt like a burden to her. His reasonable side told him she _said she wanted to know him_ , but his mind kept racing through his memories, and how people always viewed him as a freak. How he viewed _himself_ as a freak.

He couldn’t possibly imagine someone wanting to see through the literal and metaphorical layers.

And then he’d told her he wanted to be known. By her. He hadn’t lied, but it felt like it. He now thought she felt like she _had_ to know him. Like it was a favor.   
He wanted it badly, and he was weak enough to admit it to himself. But he was also sane enough to know she could do better without him. 

And she was right there, sitting across the table, looking at him as he tried to conjure up as much focus as he could with her in the room. Having Max at his side helped, because he had someone to look at while he spoke.

“While I was home, working on getting through to the _Hobb_ main drive, I got an idea. I wanted to connect the dots, so to speak, to try and enter the system through a different path. So I set up another project: finding the ‘victims’ and retracing their Internet activity, thus finding the one thing they all had in common. I figured this would give us a way of finding out what triggers his sensors, and we could use it to lure him into a trap. If and when we manage to contact him directly without him knowing it, I have a way of twitching the data to weigh the odds in our favor.” He explained, all the while either looking at his hands, or using them to point at his algorithm on his screen.

 

“But doesn’t that put us at risk of being caught?” Mattie was quick to respond.

“See, that’s where you come in.” Leo continued, “Since you were on Headcracker, I figured you had reasonable skills on laying low, and then I looked at your previous posts on the forum and saw the _finesse_ and precision of your work… – “ he smiled at her reflexively as he said it, and she blushed, “- so it meant that you are capable on developing a rootkit which would help us gain this access.”

“But how do I do that?” Mattie sounded unsure.

“That’s one of the reasons we’re here. I’ll run some ideas past you, but I’m sure you’ll get your own at that point.” Leo said matter-of-factly. But first, he wanted to know if Max found out anything about the professor. He looked at Maxie, who was paying attention to the two of them.

 

“Max, any leads on the professor?” He asked him, and saw Mattie shift in her seat.

“Well, his name is Dr. Millican. George Millican.” He looked at Leo knowingly, and the clockwork in Leo’s head clicked into a stop.

“Are you sure it’s him? _The_ George Millican?” He was unconvinced.

“Is there something I should know?” Mattie asked.

Leo turned to her and tried to explain. “My dad used to talk about this apparent genius called George Millican, and how he was his only friend at the company. Supposedly, George was the one to help Dad develop the base program application for all _Hobb Inc._ software in the beginning. I’d never think…”

He was yet again disappointed in his life. With the exception of the few friends he had, and Mattie, everyone around him or even in any relation to him ended up being corrupted. Unless…

“Hold on, Max. Did you find anything else about him?” Leo was hopeful, if only slightly.

Max grinned from ear to ear. “Actually, I spoke to him. Personally.”

 

Leo and Mattie’s eyes more or less leapt from their sockets.  
“But he... He’s a _recluse!_ I tried for months to get his office hours, but he doesn’t have any. I’m amazed he even shows up to classes, he hates being around people so much.” Mattie stammered in surprise.

Max smiled, and Leo was once again reminded of his brother’s abilities. The guy was practically an angel.

“It doesn’t matter how you managed it, just tell us what you found out.” Leo was as eager as ever to have some intel on the guy. Psychopath or not, Millican was a remnant of his dad’s past, and a bright one, apparently.

“I think you can ask him whatever you want, yourselves. I arranged for you to meet in three days. He said to keep it strictly undercover.” Max said.   


At Leo’s disapproving look, he added: “Leo, he is a good person. When I asked him about the program, he was surprised that _I_ was the one to contact him about it. He mentioned our father. He mentioned both of you, as well.” He looked between Mattie and Leo.

“Why?” Mattie asked.

“He said he’d expected both of you to help him get the truth out, eventually.” Max said.

Leo looked at Mattie in search of a companion to his thoughts. Which were running 10-mile tracks, by the way.

Mattie’s confused expression matched his, but when she gave him what he recognized as a “Are you in?” look, he nodded, assured.

The fact that he’d heard only good about George before helped make his decision, but he’d have been lying if he said that Mattie having a part in it wasn’t what added the needed weight for his scale to tip the ‘affirmation’ side.


	8. Headcrackers and Nuclear Physics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo, Mattie, and the rest of them save the world... practically

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys, it's been so long since I've updated that I almost forgot I even had a fanfic to finish... and remembered while procrastinating for the gazillion exams I have coming up, as well as some regional and national competitions, and student association organizations. Life is hard when you want it to mean something...  
> On the other hand, SEASON (Series ??) 2 IS IN THE MAKING and I couldn't just not use the buzz coming with it to keep this story going - God only knows when I'd next get the willpower to do so.
> 
> Anyway, I hope the wait wasn't insufferable, and that you enjoy this chapter as much as any ;)

 

Leo knew hacking required time and patience, but this particular job seemed to take _forever_ to get done. They always ran into obstacles, even with George’s help.

Leo was still bewildered that the old man wanted to have any business with them. But wanted it, he did.

When he and Mattie met George Millican in his – very much so – obscure, but decent house, he was reluctant to share any information with George. It turned out that he didn’t need to. The man was already ahead of them with it.

He explained that he knew something was wrong with _Hobb Inc._ when he suggested to Edwin Hobb that they upgrade their own software inside the company, and get working on some newer projects. He said that he’d done the calculations and was certain that it would guarantee major income for the company, and that he’d told Hobb so. But Hobb had refused, and kicked his former colleague out of his office. George didn’t dwell on the story, but Leo got the idea that the conflict was rather dramatic, and that it raised suspicion in George’s heart.

He investigated into Edwin’s life inside and out of the office, and found out about his cover-up.

George eventually told David about it, and the two of them left the company some time after.

The information shook David up so much that, along with other circumstances that led to it, the man ended up committing suicide, but all it did to George was make him furious and vengeful. He bided his time, made sure he was undetected, and found loopholes in whatever data he managed to get from _Hobb_.

Basically, he did what Leo was still doing, but had spent a hell of a lot more time and patience doing it. He had had so much to tell Leo and Mattie, that they’d stayed the entire day at his place.

When Leo asked him about his intentions with the two of them, George simply smiled, and added that he felt like he was getting slower, weaker; that he thought the job needed a fresh mind or two. Which was why he gave the encrypted code to Mattie – he was impressed by the thoroughness of her work, and ‘ _saw the brilliance and gleam in her that he’d once seen in David and himself’_.

Leo didn’t like that George compared Mattie to his father, whom he very much disliked, but he let it slide.

George had given them everything he’d collected over time on _Hobb_ , and agreed to help whenever needed, to get the word out.

None of them wanted the man to be killed, although that would’ve made it a lot better, but rather imprisoned for life for what he’d done. And that meant having to take down the entire underground organization and all the men in it before Hobb himself. They still needed to be safe, and very much alive.

And so they got to work…

Which took weeks.

It had become such an eventless routine that Leo thought he was stuck in a time loop, repeating the same boring day over and over.

They – Leo, Mattie and Max – met at The Mind Palace, where they worked on developing programs and viruses, discussed what a giant piece of shit Hobb was, and then Max would go to work, and Leo and Mattie would be left alone to finish up the daily task of covering up their tracks.

Leo would have given up due to excruciating repetitiveness only, but he had Mattie there to shake up the day.

When their computers had to take some time to finish up a process, Mattie insisted on them talking about anything other than what they were doing.

Leo had shared his stories at those times, and Mattie listened, interested. _Every time,_ she was so interested. It bothered Leo, in a way. He knew he wasn’t worthy of someone’s interest - _I mean, who the hell wants to know about a twelve year old sneaking into the private library at two in the morning, only to read about nuclear physics?! –_ so why was she the one to play his emotions like that?

Mattie would share her own life, too. And when she did, Leo wanted nothing more than to be part of it.

So, yes. Between the dull parts, his days were an emotional wreck, but he also needed to make some progress.

Which is why he was relieved to come into the “office” that day, and find Max and Mattie grinning at him.

  

* * *

 

 

“What is it?” Leo asked, feeling a smile spread across his face just by looking at the two of them.

“I got it.” Mattie said.

He just stared at her for elaboration. The suspense, however short, was killing him.

“…Well?” He asked, spreading his arms in exasperation. He could see the amusement of torturing him in her eyes.

She looked at Max conspiringly, and Max nodded.

She then grinned again and crossed the room to Leo. “I got the rootkit ready. It’s foolproof, even Max says so.” The pride in her voice wouldn’t have been evident if he hadn’t gotten to know her usual humble demeanor.

Leo had thought of happiness as something that came with a normal life. He’d even experienced it with Max and Mia and the rest of the family, back at their old house. But this…

This was an accomplishment that he’d been waiting for for months. And the fact that he got to share it with these people… He could feel every single blood vessel in him almost bursting with the feeling. He grinned ear to ear, looking between his brother, and the girl that, he had to admit, was the key to all this happening sooner rather than later.

 

He didn’t know how much time had passed in his trance-like state, but Mattie’s smile, as well as Max’s grin were getting a bit softer. He could still see the glee in their eyes, as they waited for him to say something.

“Oh my god.” was all that left his lips. Speechless was such a little word to describe his feelings.

And the tug in his stomach, when he looked at Mattie again, and saw her fidgeting with the sleeves of her shirt.

“I knew you could do it.” He told her quickly, almost feeling bad for not telling her that enough.

She blushed visibly, and said, “I didn’t do it on my own. You’re the one that guided me all the way through it.”

And it wasn’t untrue, either. But Leo barely even considered it. Had it not been for Mattie, (and George, consequently) he would have given up ages ago, on the verge of insanity.

His chest tightened at the very realization. Mattie was the one that kept him grounded, _sane,_ all this time.

He wanted to word his thoughts, but only managed to awkwardly mumble “If it hadn’t been for you, Mats – “ and never end his sentence, as she laughed and crossed the rest of the distance between them, pulling him in for a hug.

It took him a second to figure out what was happening – as if he hadn’t dreamt about it often enough – and to embrace her back softly. If he gripped her too hard, she would crumble to ashes and he would wake up. He couldn’t let that happen.

She was still chuckling gleefully, repeating ‘ _We did it!’_ tirelessly.

Max was behind her, and Leo mouthed his own ‘We did it’ at him, as Mattie let go of him. He felt… _incomplete,_ when she did, yet so fulfilled.   


It was a few more moments in blissful silence between the three of them before they sobered up from the initial sense of victory.

“We still have to get it in their system, of course, and I wanted you to go over it before we executed – “ Mattie said, looking at Max and Leo.

She hadn’t even finished her sentence, and Leo was already taking the laptop they’d gotten especially for this purpose, examining her work.

It was spotless. _George would be proud._ \- he found himself thinking. It was odd, having someone to look up to again, not being the only person to rely on when it came to this kind of problem.

Sure, he was also proud of Mattie, but he had been ever since she jumped into the plan. Not that he’d ever told her, _of course._

“I bet you’re acing that class of Millican’s huh?” he smirked at her over the screen affectionately.

“I should _hope so!”_ she retorted, laughing under her breath. Leo, however socially disabled, could tell she was nervous, so he went back to proofreading the virus she had worked so hard on.

He saw no reason for it not to work, and the feeling of rebellion started sinking in, after so long.

The last time he did something this big, he was alone, and the hack freed a few dozen slaves in a town in India whose name he still couldn’t pronounce. Of course, it was a good deed, and he felt proud, not ever regretting a single bit of it. And yet… For all it had done, it hadn’t affected the people around him.

Not in a way this would, at least. When this plan was brought to an end, he could go by people at ATMs who were withdrawing money, and only shrug, and not wonder if they were _Hobb Inc.’_ s next target. He wouldn’t look for their faces in the crowd all the time, hoping to be reassured they weren’t on their way to Serbia in the back of a van, tied up and robbed of their freedom.

_God, he could still remember all their faces. Every single one of them. At the bank, in a shop, the ATMs, the bus… He looked at everyone and silently prayed to see them again. It was his promise to them, to see this madness end._

* * *

 

“Have you told George yet?” He asked, sipping the celebratory drink he’d ordered for them once they finished up most of today’s work. The final executing was set for a couple hours from now, and they would alert the media anonymously once the rootkit set in, and dismantled their business limb by limb.

“I was actually going to notify him in person.” said Max. That seemed logical enough; he and George had gotten as close as one could in such a short amount of time they’d spent together. George acted surprisingly fatherly to Max, as if he reminded him of someone. Leo was glad they both had a new friend.

“Great.” He said.

“I’ll go right now, actually. His classes ended an hour ago, he should be home by now.” Max smiled and got up to get his jacket.

“Tell him to meet us when we start, it’d be rude to leave him out of this last thing.” Mattie added.

“If he agrees.” Max said, and they all knew it wasn’t likely. They’d had to coax him into coming here the few times he did.

Max said his goodbyes and left room 885. Leo still wondered at the fact that his hideout slowly became like a home to their group.

He was left alone with Mattie, like any other day, but after she’d hugged him today – and he could still feel her soft breath on his shoulder – it felt so much more intimate.

He pretended to type something on his laptop for a few minutes, to avoid actually having to speak through the lump in his throat.

.

As usual, Mattie was the one to break the silence: “So what now?” she asked.

Leo looked up slowly from his screen, pretending to be pulled out of his ‘ _concentrated state_ ’.   
_Yeah, right –_ he scoffed internally.  
“Sorry?”

“What now? After all this is done, what’s your next move?” Mattie clarified.

The question surprised Leo. He had never even considered it. For so long, his life’s work was directed towards this. A small trace of panic welled up in him, as he found he had nothing planned. His future was out in the unknown. So many possibilities, and yet so little.

He was dumbfounded for a moment, and then managed to reply: “I guess I’ll sleep for a week. God knows I deserve it.” He smiled at her.

He did not imply at his hope of her being a lot more _present_ in said future. That would be weird.

She laughed softly at his answer, and her eyes locked with his. He hadn’t spent a lot of time looking people in the eyes, so to know that she wanted to say something just by seeing the gleam in hers was a strange recognition.

He kept her gaze as he repeated her own question at her.

“I guess I’ll go back to school, pretend like nothing happened, and get my degree. After sleeping for a week, that is.”

They smiled, and the awkward silence was again looming over them.

After a few minutes, Leo whispered, “Thank you. For... _Everything._ ” 

When she didn’t say anything, still looking at her, he added, “For becoming my friend. For listening to me. For _cari – “_  and he didn’t get to finish because there she was again, hugging him tightly, her shirt muffling the rest of his sentence.

This time, he did not hesitate. He got up as he wrapped his arms firmly around her shoulders, resting his head on them. His shallow breaths deepened as moment after moment passed by, and neither of them let go.  It was a silent understanding between them, and they both savored every second of it.

He would miss this, were they to part ways.

So strange it was, to become so attached to something that only happened to you twice, and in one day.

He breathed in her scent, as if committing it to memory, should she be gone.

* * *

 

It turned out George actually _did_ want to be there, and they all did their tasks when the time came for them to officially hack into the main servers for the last time, to install the rootkit, do some cleaning up, disable their security protocols, evade detection, and, at last, leak the main information online. All of their e-mails, data, anything even remotely fishy was out and in the open.

As any job, to do thoroughly, it required some more time, but they’d prepared for it so well, that it just felt so rehearsed at that point, they managed to even get in a few laughs in the process.

By early morning, yawning and eyes drooping, but evidently still alert, they brought it to an end.

The media went crazy.

And the police surrounded _Hobb_ headquarters, as well as arrested everyone, Edwin included.

The team did not laugh, but happiness and pride of accomplishment swept over them.

The world, indeed, was better off, with them trying to transform it.

They did not move as they watched the livestream of the _event_.


End file.
